Iran has threatened to destroy oil and energy facilities in the region that are affiliated with, or partly owned by, the US if Iranian energy facilities are affected, local media have reported.
“All oil, economic and energy systems of oil companies in the region that are partly owned by the United States or that are affiliated with the United States will be immediately destroyed into ashes” if Iran’s energy assets are attacked, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported the Al-Anbiya military headquarters as saying.
The warning came after US President Donald Trump confirmed that the US military had bombed an important base of Iran of Kharg Island. Trump said the US did not target the island’s oil infrastructure.
However, he warned that he would reconsider this if “Iran, or anyone else, (should) do anything to interfere with the free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz”.
The island is economically and strategically important to Iran, Australian National University expert Amin Saikal told ABC earlier today.
“Something like 80 to 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil is exported from the island to the outside world,” Saikal said.
